Alabama Football: 5 Exciting Underclassmen No One Is Talking About

Alabama is a team that is riddled with future and current stars. Some are five-star recruits that fans eagerly await to see in action, but others are dark horse projects that could be destined to raise eyebrows.

Recent Crimson Tide players that have done this include some familiar names: Javier Arenas, Mark Ingram and Robert Lester.

Not every star begins as a highly touted recruit. Some are afterthoughts that are brought in just to fill recruiting gaps.

Here is a look at five such players on the Tide's roster that could become the featured stories of tomorrow.

Xzavier Dickson, 6'3", 240 Lbs., Linebacker, Freshman

Xzavier Dickson was a four-star-rated defensive end coming out of a high school and a pretty good pickup for the Tide.

Before his commitment, he stated he would decide between Georgia and Alabama with a coin flip because he was that torn between to the two. That turned out to not be the case, and he picked Alabama outright.

Since then, he has very quietly moved from defensive end to linebacker as one of the backups for none other than Courtney Upshaw.

That's right, Dickson is poised to become Alabama's next great jack linebacker. He already has the skills and experience rushing the passer from the edge, and all he needs now are a few more pounds of muscle.

Brandon Ivory, 6'4", 308 Lbs., Nose Guard, Redshirt Freshman

Coming out of high school, Ivory was an unheralded late commitment. He had offers from Memphis and Alabama. The choice must have come easy.

Ivory has since dropped over 20 pounds of fat and earned significant playing time against Georgia Southern when Josh Chapman and Nick Gentry sat out on a one-game suspension.

Chapman and Gentry both graduate this year, and that will leave a lot of room for future nose guards. I expect big Jesse Williams to move from defensive end to nose guard next year, but he'll need a good backup.

Ivory also wears the legendary No. 62 jersey, but he's not quite as big as the guy who wore it before.